


"Of course I want to kiss you."

by graceolina37



Series: The Window Chronicles [2]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Finally, Lil angsty, Lil fluffy, M/M, just incase you were wondering, sort of mentions homophobia, they kiss too, they talk about their feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:09:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23102254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/graceolina37/pseuds/graceolina37
Summary: Months after their first kiss Richie and Eddie talk about what it means for their friendship and their future.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Series: The Window Chronicles [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1612723
Kudos: 46





	"Of course I want to kiss you."

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this little addition, like, a long time ago and never posted it. I was going to make it a part of a second part to the series, but I figure it works okay on its own so here it is.

_**September 1990 ** __****_

_****__** ** _

_****__** ** _

They were kissing, currently. _Horizontally _, Richie would like to point out. Lips sliding against each other like that's where they were always meant to fit. He had no idea how he had managed to get his uptight hypochondriac friend in this position, but in the glory of the new year one Edward Kaspbrak had initiated many a make-out sessions that had Richie thinking it was all a dream every time.__

____

____

The second semester of their first year of high school had been one of discovery for the two of them. Richie felt weird thinking about it that way, as if they were just exploring things for the sake of it and not just doing what felt _right _. But really, they were introduced to different sides of each other as they pushed their friendship farther and farther until it became something Richie didn't know he could really classify it that way anymore. It wasn't like he had spent the summer with his tongue down any of their other losers throats. And feeling Eddies thighs bracketing his own hips was so much as _friendly _as it was _totally freaking hot. _______

_____ _

_____ _

And that was the thing; summer had been utterly blissful. From the way he and Eddie had started to hold hands while the read comic books and the fact that Richie now got to back up his overly-romantic teasing with the real thing, to lazy afternoons spent in the clubhouse or the quarry and Eddie crushing their lips together as soon as they could find a moment alone--they had gotten to spend it together, and it was perfect. But they still hadn't told any of their friends what was going on. Hell, they had not really even discussed it much themselves. And with school having just started up again, Richie wondered if maybe it was time to have that conversation.

And maybe school starting wasn't a good excuse. There wasn't really any excuse for why he chose now to bring it up--he had been pretty much okay with it in the past--but it did feel like things were different this year. They were both going to be 16 fairly soon, and it seemed like this was the age when everyone was supposed to start dating. Some people already had. And Richie thought what they were doing was sort of like dating, but he couldn't be sure until he asked. He just didn't know why he chose a moment when Eddie's lips were so sweetly pressed against his to bring the subject up.

“So, what are we?” Richie asked without even opening his eyes as Eddie pulled pack to take a few breaths.

“What do you mean?” Eddie asked, leaning back to kiss Richie one more time before sitting up completely and leaving Richie laying back on the bed and already missing the presence of the other boy being so close to him. He really didn't choose his timing right, because now they were going to have to talk instead of kiss, which was really all he had wanted to do ever since the first time they had done it and well before even. And even though he knew they needed to, talking wasn't something he was very good at. Neither of them was good at it, actually, and that's probably why it hasn't happened yet.

“I just mean,” Richie paused to think, trying to find a way to ask what he wanted to without having to spell it out, “what are we doing here?” he asked, gesturing between the two of them.

Eddie just looked confused, and Richie realized that bringing this up in such a random and nonchalant way may not have been the right decision. 

“Well,” Eddie started, “we’re friends, I guess.” 

Well, he wasn't wrong--they were still friends. And they did all the regular friend things like go to the arcade and hang out with the other losers. But there was also _more _, and it was that more --more affection and more swapping of spit-- that Richie was currently wondering about.__

____

____

“But like,” Richie was trying hard to get the words out, but there was something about discussing this out loud was making him nervous. But he _was not _going to throw up. He couldn't really remember ever acknowledging what they were doing out loud before.__

____

____

“What about the kissing?” the taller boy finally finished his thought, and in turn heard a sharp intake of breath above him. Richie met Eddie’s surprised yet somewhat delighted eyes and had a small glimmer of hope that maybe they were going to work this out into a more-than-friendship type of relationship, but all the excitement he felt was lost when he saw whatever happiness there was in Eddie's eyes melt away.

“The kissing?” Eddie asked, knowing what Richie was getting at but doing his best to avoid the conversation.

“You were literally kissing me less than a minute ago, and you're still sitting in my lap right now, so don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about,” Richie said, finally done with trying to tip-toe around what was clearly going on. If he didn't just put it out there how it was they were never going to get this worked out. Eddie was the bravest person he knew, but he wasn't going to trust him to be the catalyst for this conversation anymore. It was going to have to be him, so he might as well just get it over with.

“Jesus, Rich,” Eddie said with a sigh, moving off Richie to lay down beside the taller boy, “Don't be a dick about this.”

“I wasn't trying to be,” Richie said, “I was just pointing out the obvious.”

A moment of silence passed and the two boys found themselves turning to face each other. Their eyes met over the crinkles in Eddie’s navy blue comforter, and Richie could tell that the shorter boy was worried. Eddie was almost always worried, and so it wasn't hard to spot, but there was something else mixed in it too. It was almost like he was sad, and the prospect of Eddie being sad or in any sort of pain made Richie wanted to pick up a baseball bat and throw down with the universe. It made his heart feels like it was being weighed down by something too powerful for its own good.

“Richie,” Eddie said, and _oh great, you can even hear it in his voice _, “this isn't something we can just--” Eddie stopped talking, clearly unsure of what to say.__

____

____

“This isn't like Bill and Beverly trying to decide if they're going to date or just be friends,” Eddie started, trying to find a way to explain, “and it's not like how it is in the movies.”

“Were both boys, Rich,” Eddie finished his thought after a moment.

“Nice observation, Doctor K,” Richie said sarcastically.

“Shut up, dickwad,” Eddie said and let a smile slip despite himself, “I just mean that talking about stuff like this isn't like it is for everyone else.”

“And we have to be careful about it,” Eddie continued, “because, you know why. I don't even have to say it,” he went on, “People already harass us for being _like that _and they don't even know that we actually are.”__

____

____

“I thought you weren't gonna say it,” Richie piped up, only to get a gare in return.

“This is serious, Richie,” Eddie told him.

“This,” Eddie continued, gesturing between the two of them, “isn't normal.”

And well, Richie would be lying if he said that didn't sting a little bit. It wasn't like he didn't know that it wasn't normal. He wasn't stupid and he’d heard all the things people had said about _boys who like other boys _, to put it nicely. Richie had heard it described in a lot more colorful and hurtful ways than that. And even though Eddie hadn't said anything mean about it, hearing that come out of his mouth, even though it was the truth, hurt like a punch to the gut.__

____

____

“So are we just going to be best friends forever then?” Richie asked, sounding cynical and just a little bit angry. Not at Eddie--never at Eddie-- but at the world that was bound to keep them apart.

“No,” Eddie said, to Richie's surprise, “I don't know.”

“Then what are we?” Richie asked the question that started all of this once again, “Special friends? Secret lovers?” he added, speaking suggestively and wagging his eyebrow to try and lighten the mood a little bit.

“Sure,” Eddie laughed and Richie jaw dropped in a slight shock that Eddie had agreed to the ridiculous names.

“I guess. Whatever,” Eddie tried to play it off before continuing in a slightly more serious manner, “You're my best friend Richie, but you're more than that too. I just don't know how to put a definition, or whatever, on that right now.”

“Okay,” Richie said nodding and feeling like he had gotten the conformation that he wanted, “so that means you want to keep kissing me, right?”

“Why would I want to kiss a trashmouth?” Eddie asked and Richie playfully pushed him in response.

“Of course I want to kiss you,” Eddie said as he rolled back on top of Richie and gave him a peck, in what the taller boy thought was a pretty bold display on his part. And even though maybe he hadn't gotten all of the answers he was hoping for, and he had a lot more questions and a whole other person's worries floating around in his head now, Richie was content. He didn't need to know exactly what they were if he had this, and especially if it meant he could keep having this for as long as Eddie would have him.


End file.
